Little League 2018 season

[F250 28990]

Who all has kids playing this season?

Is anyone coaching this season? If so how did you do in the draft?

[bschoolprof 6281]

Two kids playing this spring.  I'm 1st base coach for one, which means I do very little.  

[jkates 328]

My son is playing in Spring Branch Memorial Sports Association this spring, in the 7-8 year old division (Midget). I'm the head coach of his team, and the coordinator of the league. 50 teams, 620 kids, it's insane and great.

I did OK in the draft. We draft amongst schools, so I had a draft pool of 26 kids. I targeted 6 of them as guys/families I really wanted. I landed 5 of those 6. 

Edited April 2, 2018 by jkates

[Hanrahan 1306]

Our school has eight teams in the SBMSA draft and JKates wouldn't let us stack them so out midget team is good but middling.

[jkates 328]

10 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

Our school has eight teams in the SBMSA draft and JKates wouldn't let us stack them so out midget team is good but middling.

Too bad we couldn't find 8 good coaches!

[Jacob McCandles 202]

There are very few moments in a father's life that are better than being at Pine Shadows ES on a nice April night with all four fields in action.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Jacob McCandles

[jkates 328]

On 4/2/2018 at 3:09 PM, Jacob McCandles said:

There are very few moments in a father's life that are better than being at Pine Shadows ES on a nice April night with all four fields in action.

Amen to that. I'll be out there tonight.

[Hanrahan 1306]

There are very few moments in a father's life that are better than being at Pine Shadows ES on a nice April night with all four fields in action.

Last night was great. Our team with heretofore little power was cranking the ball to the outfield last night. We run-ruled a decent team top of four. The fans atall four fields were going nuts.

[jkates 328]

41 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

 

Last night was great. Our team with heretofore little power was cranking the ball to the outfield last night. We run-ruled a decent team top of four. The fans atall four fields were going nuts.

 

What team is your son on? We're on the Hooks. 

[Hanrahan 1306]

You know who I am. I coach the Brewers.

[bschoolprof 6281]

[UTEX90 589]

I loved SBMSA.  Got a kid with his name on a plaque our there for winning State as 8 year olds.  At least I hope it is still there.  Alas, that was 10 years ago.  You boys enjoy this time.  There is no other like it.

[UTEX90 589]

This year I am a pitching coach on a 9-10 Little League team in Katy.  Lots of fun.  5-0 so far and have beaten some tough competition with great pitching and defense.

[jkates 328]

2 hours ago, Hanrahan said:

You know who I am. I coach the Brewers.

Haha. I had you mixed up. I can't be expected to remember "Hanrahan!"

[F250 28990]

On 4/4/2018 at 2:35 PM, UTEX90 said:

This year I am a pitching coach on a 9-10 Little League team in Katy.  Lots of fun.  5-0 so far and have beaten some tough competition with great pitching and defense.

Are you teaching them to brush back punks that crowd the plate?

Kudos to your team having a pitching coach. When I was a team manager in LL I would bring in a dedicated coach for pitching and one for catching. It really made a big difference.

[vox 70]

FBSA 9U-AA coach checking in.

So far we're 4-0 and tied with another team at 1st place.

We got great kids and great families.  This is our first year as a team - spun off from another team in the Fall. 

He's working on batting left this season.  Switch hitting catcher, pitcher, 3B.

Good times right now.  Enjoying it while I can. Recommend ya'll do the same.

Little baller in action:

Edited April 7, 2018 by vox

[vox 70]

Putting this back up since we lost it from the "old country"...

Little baller with the Rocket:

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

Not 2018, but I’ll play /csb.

I coached in a league that drafted from one pool for the whole town. We held a pre-draft honor system Q&A session to share knowledge of players with other coaches (typically rookie coaches).  

Every coach played along except one guy who would never share a word. He’d always arrange to meet (scout) the families of new kids. Every damn year he’d find a new kid who would eventually play college ball. He’d also recruit stud players’ dads to be his assistant coach. He almost always won the league championship. 

My team played him in the championship game one year. It was our last at bat, and his kid was pitching. We were down by 4 runs and had somehow managed to load the bases with 2 outs. I had noticed that this pitcher and catcher were careless about how they got the ball back to the pitcher after each pitch.

Our worst (by far) hitter was coming to the plate, and my first base coach was a volunteer dad who came down from the stands when our other coach suddenly couldn’t make it .

I signaled all of our runners to steal the moment the ball left the catcher’s hand. I did that on three straight pitches. This coach had already visited the mound, so all he could do was instruct from the dugout.   The crowd was yelling, too, so the p&c just got more flustered. 

Our batter struck out on the 4th pitch, and we lost by one run. But, judging from the cheering crowd made up mostly of other teams, my assholish move was a hit.  The other team won another trophy, so they were happy  

As a side note, my son and I are still friends with the other coach and his son. Not one word has ever been spoken of this game. 

[F250 28990]

Its way to freaking cold today for baseball!

[TwiceHorn 31705]

How does this draft thing work in these leagues? We had Y leagues where the teams were divvied up by elementary school and with an eye to parity. 

 

The Chamber of Commerce teams were similarly divvied up (school if feasible or groups of nearby schools). 

Seems harsh to subject preteens to cuts/drafts/talent evaluations. 

[F250 28990]

On 4/7/2018 at 2:45 PM, TwiceHorn said:

How does this draft thing work in these leagues? We had Y leagues where the teams were divvied up by elementary school and with an eye to parity. 

 

The Chamber of Commerce teams were similarly divvied up (school if feasible or groups of nearby schools). 

Seems harsh to subject preteens to cuts/drafts/talent evaluations. 

- Tryouts/evaluations - Not mandatory but if you don't attend you are ineligible for all star selection. This rule keeps coaches from sand bagging talented new players. I am really not sure how you evenly distribute talent without evaluations.

- Draft sequence based on drawing

- Draft, first 2 rounds the assistant coaches kids are protected, after 2nd round anyone can draft them. It happens. A few years ago my youngest was drafted over an assistant coaches kids in the first round and another team picked up the AC's kid. Caused a major headache.

- Post draft horse trading.

The two events I hate the most is draft time and All Star selection, especially All Star selection.

This mom always shows up.

[texashorne 1180]

5u teeball checking in.. I am the head coach.. First year.. Truly shocked at how fun this is. 

[Hanrahan 1306]

On 4/4/2018 at 2:29 PM, UTEX90 said:

I loved SBMSA.  Got a kid with his name on a plaque our there for winning State as 8 year olds.  At least I hope it is still there.  Alas, that was 10 years ago.  You boys enjoy this time.  There is no other like it.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Hanrahan

[Hanrahan 1306]

My youngest had a walk off home run* in his last little league game.  He's six and not a bastard but damned if he didn't touch home, put his arms out and pretend to fly into right field.  I found it to be acceptable because the other team's fans had been snarky all game.

 

 

 

* Routine outfield hit turned into a HR by at least two errors, maybe more.  

[troph 24929]

Got two playing one in second year kid pitch other second year coach pitch. One team didn’t have a coach until week of the first game. I thought about volunteering to be a coach but didn’t. I chickened out.

 

Games yesterday and today and two on Saturday.

 

Youngest has a nice swing and really connects with the ball. He’s coming around on fielding. Gonna get him some training etc soon. Middle son had only a few years left I think (he’s the one with no coach until the last second).

 

The grass is green and the weather is phenomenal. Little league is my jam. I love it.

 

 

 

[pacman 7441]

23 minutes ago, troph said:

 

 

The grass is green and the weather is phenomenal. Little league is my jam. I love it.

 

 

 

Not enough to volunteer as coach apparently.....

 

Step up next time man. It's a joy.

[troph 24929]

Not enough to volunteer as coach apparently.....
 
Step up next time man. It's a joy.

It’s a tad more complicated than that, or maybe it shouldn’t be. I don’t want to be dug out mom, I wanna coach. I’ll admit I’m a little afraid.

[4th and 5 4928]

Did it for years, first year away. Now my boy is on the JV team. I sure miss it. Enjoy it while you can. 

[Jacob McCandles 202]

Did it for years, first year away. Now my boy is on the JV team. I sure miss it. Enjoy it while you can. 

Indeed, enjoy it while you can. Coached or helped Coach for 16 seasons. This is the first year in 20 that I don't had one of mine playing.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Dugout dad.  My son is playing in Post Oak LL.  It is a blast.  Lot of Longhorn families.  Last year of Pee Wees (8 and 9), which is a hell of a lot of fun.  We have a good group of kids and families.

[F250 28990]

19 hours ago, Hanrahan said:

My youngest had a walk off home run* in his last little league game.  He's six and not a bastard but damned if he didn't touch home, put his arms out and pretend to fly into right field.  I found it to be acceptable because the other team's fans had been snarky all game.

 

 

 

* Routine outfield hit turned into a HR by at least two errors, maybe more.  

 

 

[F250 28990]

4 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

Did it for years, first year away. Now my boy is on the JV team. I sure miss it. Enjoy it while you can. 

Same here. Have two playing varsity and one playing 14U.

I almost got my 7 year old daughter signed up but the wife said no. It's a shame because she can probably hit and field as good as most 9/10 year old's in LL. Despite not ever playing the sport she gets a lot of training time in with me and her brothers.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Do you guys booze at the games?  At POLL, it is very common for parents to have some sort of mixed drink in their Yeti.  I limit myself to one as I am not drinking more than that and driving, especially with my kids.  Was wondering how other leagues are.  We played in West U LL when the boy was 5 and 6, and it was rare to see anyone drinking.  POLL basically encourages it.  They sent an email saying drinking is okay so long as there is no beer cans or liquor bottles visible.

During the playoffs, people bring full on coolers and get wasted.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Just now, F250 said:

Same here. Have two playing varsity and one playing 14U.

I almost got my 7 year old daughter signed up but the wife said no. It's a shame because she can probably hit and field as good as most 9/10 year old's in LL. Despite not ever playing the sport she gets a lot of training time in with me and her brothers.

There are several girls in our pee wee league that knock the shit out of the ball.

[F250 28990]

4 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Do you guys booze at the games?  At POLL, it is very common for parents to have some sort of mixed drink in their Yeti.  I limit myself to one as I am not drinking more than that and driving, especially with my kids.  Was wondering how other leagues are.  We played in West U LL when the boy was 5 and 6, and it was rare to see anyone drinking.  POLL basically encourages it.  They sent an email saying drinking is okay so long as there is no beer cans or liquor bottles visible.

During the playoffs, people bring full on coolers and get wasted.

I never did in Little League as I was always coaching. I know guys would drink beers out of an ice chest kept in the back of their trucks but that was always done in the parking lot.

During All Stars in the summer it wasn't unusual to hangout and drink a couple of beers and grill burgers/hot dogs after practice.

In travel baseball, I was usually drinking beer on Saturday games. If I am spending 6 hours in a ball park on a Saturday there better be beer involved.

[troph 24929]

My youngest went 2-3 with a single and double (lined to center field) some RBIs, 2 runs scored and two outs at second base (4-3 ground out, and a 5-3 ground out). Kid is only in his second full season (8U coach pitch) still in developmental league. Gonna try and get him some camps this summer I think. He’s my most athletic. anyhoo, great Saturday for sure! Here he is at the plate the pitch he lined to center ...

 

 

 

[troph 24929]

On the drinking thing, lots of yeti tumblers on weeknights out here, I drink iced tea but I know most are spiked, they have to be.

[F250 28990]

3 hours ago, troph said:

My youngest went 2-3 with a single and double (lined to center field) some RBIs, 2 runs scored and two outs at second base (4-3 ground out, and a 5-3 ground out). Kid is only in his second full season (8U coach pitch) still in developmental league. Gonna try and get him some camps this summer I think. He’s my most athletic. anyhoo, great Saturday for sure! Here he is at the plate the pitch he lined to center ...

 

 

 

Looks like the field in Bee Cave.

My son put one over the fence on the big field there during his first game when he was 13 years old.

[Pato del Muerto 52974]

One of my 9 year old twins finally asked to play baseball. We’ve been throwing a little and he can hit a little, so it should be no big deal for him to go into a league. 

First practice is Monday. Monday’s forecast is high of 43 and a decent chance of snow. 

[F250 28990]

On 4/21/2018 at 2:58 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

One of my 9 year old twins finally asked to play baseball. We’ve been throwing a little and he can hit a little, so it should be no big deal for him to go into a league. 

First practice is Monday. Monday’s forecast is high of 43 and a decent chance of snow. 

Where are y'all, Minnesota?

 

[jkates 328]

On 4/20/2018 at 12:40 PM, Johnny Sack said:

Do you guys booze at the games?  At POLL, it is very common for parents to have some sort of mixed drink in their Yeti.  I limit myself to one as I am not drinking more than that and driving, especially with my kids.  Was wondering how other leagues are.  We played in West U LL when the boy was 5 and 6, and it was rare to see anyone drinking.  POLL basically encourages it.  They sent an email saying drinking is okay so long as there is no beer cans or liquor bottles visible.

During the playoffs, people bring full on coolers and get wasted.

POLL is (in)famous for Styro Row. Our league (SBMSA) does not allow it, but you can be certain that plenty of tumblers contain mixed drinks, especially in the laid-back summer league. 

We started off the season pretty well, but the sportsmanship issues have started to crop up now that playoffs are near. Coaches and fans are starting to ratchet up the intensity. It's parts hilarious and parts ridiculous. I enjoy it a ton. Our little team is 7-1. We hit really well. We often play defense like Roger Dorn. 

[jkates 328]

On 4/20/2018 at 10:53 AM, Johnny Sack said:

Dugout dad.  My son is playing in Post Oak LL.  It is a blast.  Lot of Longhorn families.  Last year of Pee Wees (8 and 9), which is a hell of a lot of fun.  We have a good group of kids and families.

Which Pee Wee team is your son on? 

[VolenteHawk 495]

On 4/21/2018 at 11:31 AM, troph said:

My youngest went 2-3 with a single and double (lined to center field) some RBIs, 2 runs scored and two outs at second base (4-3 ground out, and a 5-3 ground out). Kid is only in his second full season (8U coach pitch) still in developmental league. Gonna try and get him some camps this summer I think. He’s my most athletic. anyhoo, great Saturday for sure! Here he is at the plate the pitch he lined to center ...

 

 

 

Respect for the Swingman pants.  My son's team switched to double stripes this year, so his pairs are relegated to practice now.

 

[Pato del Muerto 52974]

Just got a text from the coach. Every kid must wear a cup. 9 year olds. Is that common now to require one?

[Chuychanga 134]

Well he is being pitched  to  at by another 9-year old... so yeah.  

[Pato del Muerto 52974]

I’m gonna buy him an adult large, work it into a kid jock, and have him waddle out to practice.  

[F250 28990]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Just got a text from the coach. Every kid must wear a cup. 9 year olds. Is that common now to require one?

Yes, it's normal. Get him some sliding shorts to go with the cup.

53 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’m gonna buy him an adult large, work it into a kid jock, and have him waddle out to practice.  

I did this when my youngest couldn't find his cup. He wore his teenage brother's cup for a game. LOL he looked like one of those male ballet dancers.

 

[VolenteHawk 495]

12 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Just got a text from the coach. Every kid must wear a cup. 9 year olds. Is that common now to require one?

I made my kid (now 9) start wearing one when he caught, but he quickly started wearing it all the time after he got used to it.

 

[BrazilHorn 6666]

We are in Western Hills. Was at POLL before we moved to Austin.

My younger son (plays MP8) is a baller. LL is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the city league tournament. He was on winning city league team last summer, so I am looking forward to see if he can get the repeat.

 

[MAROON 445]

On 4/24/2018 at 12:39 PM, jkates said:

POLL is (in)famous for Styro Row.

yep.  Former WULL guy here.  We had plenty of styro, tervis tumblers back in the day in the stands. Then we got an attorney as head of the league and between that and HISD cracking down (we have some of our fields on their property) there was a general push to stop it.  Sort of amazing POLL still does it considering the number of uptight attorneys in that league along with the fact that all their fields are on HISD property.